Barkov, Rodrigues to be reevaluated after leaving Vegas game with injuries
Barkov (upper-body) and Rodrigues (lower-body) were both injured during the first period of Florida's win in Las Vegas on Thursday
Two members of the Florida Panthers' top six forward group suffered injuries during Thursday’s win over the Vegas Golden Knights.
Panthers captain and top line center Sasha Barkov, along with winger Evan Rodrigues, each only played a handful of shifts before suffering their respective injuries during the first period.
Rodrigues went down after blocking a rocket of a shot off the stick of Vegas defenseman Brayden McNabb that came directly after a faceoff in Florida’s end of the ice.
The puck appeared to strike Rodrigues on the outside of the lower leg/ankle/foot area, and he struggled to get himself to the Panthers bench afterwards.
Rodrigues eventually made his way to Florida’s locker room and didn’t return for about 10 minutes.
When he did come back, he played three short shifts before leaving the game for good.
It was later in the first period when Sasha Barkov would go down.
He was in the offensive zone on the forecheck and closed in on Vegas’ defenseman Alec Martinez behind the Golden Knights net.
Martinez has his back to Barkov and backhanded the puck up the boards as Barkov arrived and appeared to unintentionally elbow him in the face.
After slowly making his way back to the Panthers bench, Barkov remained there while speaking with Florida trainer Dave DiNapoli for a few minutes with his face cradled between his gloves before ultimately heading down the tunnel to the locker room.
Neither player would come out for the start of the second period, and soon after the Panthers would officially rule both out for the remainder of the game.
Afterwards, Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice was asked if he had any update on Barkov or Rodrigues.
“We'll get one for you tomorrow,” Maurice said. “They’ve got to get looked at by somebody smarter than me.”
Both players will get reevaluated on Friday morning in Las Vegas, where the team remained after their 4-1 win the night before.
It was an impressive victory for Florida, the franchise's first in Vegas, considering they played the majority of the game without two-thirds of the top line.
Now suddenly, in the span of a couple games, the Panthers forward ranks have gone from fully healthy to potentially depleted.
Florida lost forward Nick Cousins to the concussion protocol earlier this week after he was checked from behind into the glass by Arizona’s Jason Zucker, a hit that cost Zucker a three-game suspension.
Considering Barkov took a forceful blow to his head, it wouldn’t be surprising to hear if he has to follow a similar path as Cousins, but that’s just speculation at this point.
The Panthers are scheduled to practice on Friday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas before traveling to Colorado for Saturday’s matchup with the Avalanche.
Whether or not either of the aforementioned forwards are on the ice remains to be seen, but Maurice may have more information on the severity of the injuries when he speaks after practice.
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